Horror as over 300 children vanish from school as it’s stormed by gunmen | World | News
More than 300 children have been abducted in a mass kidnapping from a boarding school in the northwest of Nigeria – the third incident in the last week. The gunmen stormed St Mary’s Catholic school in the conflict-ridden area of the country on Friday morning, loading the children into a convoy of pick-up trucks before disappearing back into the thick nature surrounding the school.
Abubakar Usman, the state government secretary, said in a statement: “The Niger state government has received with deep sadness the disturbing news of the kidnapping of pupils from St Mary’s School in Agwara local government area.”
Dominci Adamu had his daughters kidnapped from the school and told the BBC: “Everybody is weak… it took everybody by surprise.”
While another woman who had her six-year-old and 13-year-old nieces kidnapped added: “I just want them to come home.”
Originally, figures suggested 215 children were taken, but after the school looked to verify the number, that number shot up to 303, with 12 teachers also abducted – around half of their total students.
Authorities claim they warned the school of an increased risk of attacks and say that an order was made to close boarding facilities – something the school “disregarded”.
Local police have announced that they have begun “combing” the nearby forests to try to rescue the kids. It is thought the attack was done for a ransom.
Mass kidnappings have become increasingly common in certain regions in Nigeria, with gunmen storming a church, taking 38 people and killing two in an attack that was live-streamed last week.
After the string of incidents, the state governor of Niger, Mohammed Umar Bago, ordered the closure of all schools in the state, with some nearby states also following the move as a precautionary measure.
Nationally, 47 boarding schools have also been closed.
Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, was due to attend the G20 summit in South Africa but has since cancelled his trip to sort the crisis at home.
President Trump also weighed in on the recent incidents and threatened that the US may intervene in what he says is a “genocide” against Christians.
He added that US forces could go “guns-a-blazing” into Nigeria if it fails to protect Christians in the country.
Speaking in Congress, Jonathan Pratt, a senior official at the US Bureau of African Affairs, said: “Terrorists, separatists, bandits and criminal militias in Nigeria are all over the country, with ongoing attacks often deliberately targeting Christian communities.”
Militant group Boko Haram have a large prominence in the region as it seeks to impose an Islamic state in the region. The group has previously conducted a similar attack, abducting 276 school girls in 2014. Many of those abducted have since either escaped or been freed, but 100 are still missing.
